Around
two
hundred
people gathered in Weiser
Hall Wednesday night to
hear Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein,
former United Nations High
Commissioner for Human
Rights, speak on the world’s
greatest challenges to human
rights.
Sociology
Professor
Kiyoteru Tsutsui, director
of
the
Donia
Human
Rights
Center,
said
the
Distinguished Lecture series
invites speakers to campus
who have both experience in
human rights and the ability
to speak broadly about the
topic. Al Hussein’s record
fighting for human rights
globally, Tsutsui said, make
him an ideal lecturer.
“I can’t think of anybody
who is a better spokesperson
for
human
rights
than
the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human
Rights,” Tsutsui said.
Al
Hussein
began
his
lecture by defining universal
human rights but quickly
turned to criticize academics
and universities for not doing
enough to protect them.
“On the face of it, you would
have to believe that (human
rights) are a weak force,” Al
Hussein said. “The mere fact
that most universities don’t
have human rights centers,
and if they have human
rights
centers,
they
are
small, usually underfunded,
usually lodged in a law
faculty, and even there, they
struggle to find a position
of prominence … Voldemort
would be so proud.”
Al
Hussein
identified
nine
main
threats
to
human rights today: China,
Russia, the United States
under
President
Trump,
authoritarian-minded
leaders around the world,
white
supremacists,
conservatives,
leading
academics who attack the
human rights agenda without
proposing alternatives and
economic elites.
He argued as each of these
actors work to erode the
global infrastructure built
to protect human rights,
codifying protections into
law is more important than
ever. Al Hussein illustrated
this point with the story
of René Cassin, one of the
original
drafters
of
the
Universal
Declaration
of
Human Rights, who fought
in World War I and lost over
a dozen family members in
the Holocaust.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, November 7, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Alvin Bowles, Facebook’s vice
president of global publisher
sales and operations, shared
aspects of his life that have
been crucial to his career, as
well as recent controversies
surrounding Facebook at talk
Wednesday evening.
About 350 people attended
the talk, which was part of
the Yaffe Speaker Series led
by Marketing lecturer Marcus
Collins at the Ross School of
Business. The series showcases
individuals in business who are
restructuring their fields.
At the event, Bowles discussed
many of the factors that lead
him to where he is today, such
as a strong community. Growing
up in Detroit, he relied heavily
on his family’s community ties
and cultivated his own. As a
student at the University of
Michigan, he said he found an
intricate web of support from
students and alums that he still
uses today. After graduating, he
went on to work for JP Morgan
& Chase, Sony, Time Warner
and eventually Facebook.
Bowles said a strong sense of
community in Ann Arbor helped
him get out of his comfort zone
and achieve his goals. He said
it was difficult relocating from
Michigan to New York City, but
he was able to stay in New York
because of the connections he
built with alumni who helped
him feel confident in his own
abilities.
“I learned a valuable lesson:
Comfort
zones
don’t
make
your life safe, they make your
life small,” Bowles said. “For
me, New York was a foreign
place… I didn’t have any friends
and I didn’t know anybody
but I leaned on my Michigan
community, to be able to give me
a sense of … family.”
LSA
freshman
Dilpreet
Kaur told The Daily she was
motivated by Bowles’ story
because his path unfolded over
time, rather than following a
predetermined track.
Liberty in North Korea,
a
student
organization
at
the University of Michigan,,
invited two North Korean
refugees
to
share
their
journeys
to
freedom
on
Wednesday evening at Angell
Hall
to
about
75
people.
Jeongyol Ri and Ilhyeok Kim
are representatives of LiNK
headquarters in Long Beach,
Calif.,
where
they
share
their stories with audience
members.
Ri is now a current student
studying mathematics at Seoul
National University, and Kim
is studying political science
and diplomacy and Hankuk
University of Foreign Studies
in South Korea. LiNK is a non-
profit organization that aims
to aid North Korean refugees
in their journey to freedom.
They have helped over 1000
North
Korean
refugees
who have made the three-
thousand-mile rescue route
to Southeast Asia to freedom
and safety. The organization
also hopes to redefine public
perception of North Korea by
shifting the narrative from the
politics to the people.
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 22
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
First license
for recreational
cannabis given
to A2 business
Exclusive Brands aims to dominate local
marijuana industry with new regulations
Michael S. Erwin, CEO of
the
leadership
development
institution
Character
&
Leadership Center, presented to
about 100 people in the Annenberg
Auditorium of the Ford School of
Public Policy on the topic of, “In
A Distracted World, Solitude is
Practice for Tomorrow’s Leaders.”
The event was the product of the
collaboration of University of
Michigan Athletics, The Barger
Leadership Institute and the LSA
Opportunity Hub, along with
other organizations.
Erwin, a New York native,
graduated from The U.S. Military
Academy at West Point with a
degree in Economics in 2002.
After three tours in Afghanistan,
he continued his education at the
University of Michigan, where he
studied positive psychology and
leadership from 2009-2011. With
his diverse academic background,
he founded the community-based
combat veteran support non-profit
called the “Team Red, White &
Blue.” He also founded the non-
profit “The Positivity Project,”
which focuses on empowering
youth with the knowledge to
build positive relationships with
themselves and others.
CEO talks
leadership
strategies
in lecture
BUSINESS
SOFIA URBAN
For The Daily
Facebook Executive Alvin Bowles
discusses community in business
VP of Global Publisher Sales & Operations presents as part of Yaffe Speaker Series
Refugees
reflect on
stories of
freedom
CAMPUS LIFE
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
Former UN Commissioner talks
human rights, student leadership
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein defined nine main threats in talk for Distinguished Lecture Series
See LINKS, Page 3
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
RITA VEGA/Daily
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of Jordan, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks on “Global Challenges to Human Rights Today,” in Weiser Hall Wednesday after-
noon.
Author, Michael S. Erwin
discussed importance of
ignoring e-distractions
See RIGHTS, Page 3
MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily
Alvin Bowles, VP of global and publisher sales and operations at Facebook, speaks about his career and experiences at Facebook at the Ross School of Business Wednesday evening.
LiNK event seeks to
redefine perception of
North Korea in U.S.
KRISTINA ZHENG
Daily Staff Reporter
See DISTRACTIONS, Page 3
JULIA RUBIN
For The Daily
At midnight on Nov. 1, 2019,
the application for recreational
marijuana licenses opened to
Michigan businesses across
the
state.
The
Michigan
Marijuana Regulatory Agency,
part of the Michigan State
Department of Licensing and
Regulatory
Affairs,
began
accepting these applications
as part of their efforts to
implement
new
regulatory
framework
for
recreational
use in the industry.
Ann
Arbor’s
own
Exclusive Brands, currently
an
operational
medical
marijuana facility, was the
first business to apply for
the licence. Narmin Jarrous,
executive vice president of
business
development
at
Exclusive Brands, explained
they were well prepared to
capitalize on the opportunity.
“We had a pre-qualification
approval before we woke up on
Friday morning, we submitted
our
pre-qualification
application at 12:17 a.m., and
we were the first approval
later that morning,” Jarrous
said.
Omar Hishmeh, owner of
Exclusive Brands, said he
and his company prioritize
being first to implement new
developments in the industry.
“It’s always been a priority
of ours to be the first at about
anything in the industry,”
Hishmeh
said.
“Anytime
any new emergency rules
or anything comes out, we
adapt
to
them;
any
new
opportunities,
we
actively
start to pursue them as soon
as possible. Basically, just
staying on top of everything
we can to remain a leading
company in the marketplace
here in Michigan.”
Exclusive Brands has its
flagship
location
in
Ann
Arbor and currently services
patients with a diverse array of
medical marijuana products.
Jarrous explained the current
scope of the business and
their approach to managing
production locally.
“Exclusive
Brands
is
currently operational as a
medical
marijuana
facility,
so
we
were
one
of
the
first
vertically
integrated
marijuana facilities in the
state, so we have a grow,
process
and
provisioning
center in Ann Arbor,” Jarrous
said.
HANNAH MCKAY
Daily Staff Reporter
See MARIJUANA, Page 3
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com